Vending-machine.



McDOWELL GRAVES.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED :um: 15, 1915.

1,170,632. Patented Feb. 8,1916.

Q Inn /7227p w 'f1fl-|B LUMBXA PLANOLIRAPI-l co.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

' arious viewsto ef ect delivery of the lower.

barren sra'rns Parana option.

MCDOWELL GRAVES, DE LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TC GENERALUTILITIES COMPANY, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OFCALIFORNIA.

VENDING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

Application filed June 15, 1915. Serial No. 34,242.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, MoDownLL GRAVES, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county ofLos Angeles, State of California, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Vending-Machines, of

which the following is a specification. V

This invention relates to vending ma chines in general and particularlyto a vending machine adapted to vend commodities contained in boxes orthe like, particularly handkerchiefs or the like contained. in paperboard boxes. It will be understood that the coin controlled mechanismh'erein explained may be applied to other vending machines;

but I explain it in connection with a vending machine of the classherein noted, for the reason that it is particularly adapted to suchspecific work.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a vending machine ofextreme simplicity for the purposes set forth. Other objects, and themechanism for accomplishing them are set forth in the followingspecification.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated, for thepurpose of thisspecification, a preferred form of my mechanism, in which 'drawings y YFigure 1 is a front elevation of a machine larged vertical section takenas indicated by l1ne 22 on Fig. 1, Flg. 3 is an enlarged verticalsection taken-as lndicated by line 35 on Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a sectiontaken as Indicated by line 44 on Fig. 2, Fig. 5 is a detail sectiontaken as indicated by line 5-5 on Fig." 2, and Fig.6 is a View showing amodified detail of the machine.

In the drawings the numeral 10 may designate a case of any suitabledesign,

which case may contain a pair or more of the mechanisms hereinafterexplained. In a preferred form of my devlce I provlde package chutes orhoppers 11 for two different commodities, say two different grades ofhandkerchiefs contained in boxes 12.- But the operations of the .twomechanisms for the delivery of the two commodities are the same. I

Referring now first to Fig. 8 I explain the delivery action of themechanism. There is a delivery shaft 13 which is rotated in the;

direction indicated bythe arrows in the most box 12. The lowermost box12 rests with one edge on the upper end of the inclined wall 14, and itsother edge is supported by the foot 15 of a member 16 mounted upon theshaft 13. Also mounted upon the shaft 13 is a member 17 which pressesagainst the box 12 directly above the lowermostbox 12. Upon rotation ofthe shaft 13 in the direction indicated the foot 15 is withdrawn frombeneath the rear edge of the-lowermost box 12, allowing the box to dropdown on the inclined wall 14; and at the same time the member 17 ispressed against the edge of the next box 12 to hold it, and the boxesabove, from downward movement until the shaft and the foot 15 return totheir normal position. The resiliency of the box 12 and also of theshaft 13, allow the member 17 to press resiliently against the box whilethe foot 15 is withdrawn. The lowermost box 12 slides down the inclinedwall 14 and presses a flap 18 aside and isthen dropped onto the deliverybottom 19 and thence passes to the opening '20 where it may be graspedby the buyer.

The front wall 21 and inclined wall 14 protect the flap 18 frommolestation, and the delivered package slides under the front wall to aposition where it may be reached by the buyer. The flap 18 is looselymounted upon the shaft 13, hanging normally therefrom at the positionindicated, a balance weight 22 being formed on the flap by bending upedges of the material of which it is formed; said weight holding aflapnormally in the position shown so that the handkerchiefs 12 cannotbe reached by a wire or any tool, from the opening 20.

It will be seen that, in order to deliver a package, it is onlynecessary to rotate the delivery shaft 13 in the direction indicatedthrough approximately a sixth of a revolutionor so. Themechanism shownin Figs. 2, 4 and 5 is designed to efiect this rotation when a propercoin is inserted. Upon the end of shaft 13 I mount a suitable pawl 30extending more or less horizontally so that a 7 vertical movement of theouter end 30 of tends upwardly in the case and has on its upper end aprojection 36. This pro ection 36 carrles a coin engaging finger 37 anda path of a coin which passes down the coin chute 39,.the'lower part ofthe'coin' chute being slotted, or, in other words, being composed of twoopposite ways as shown at 39 in Figs. 2 and 5; so thatthe'coin-supporting member 3S may project into the path of the coin asillustrated. Thecoin engagingrfinger 37 rojects to apoint close to acoin resting upon supporting-member 38. A coin is illustratjed in thisposition at; C. A spring lO pulls the bar 35 to the left. in Fig. 2; anda stop pin 41 limits the movement of the bar in that direction; Normallythe stop pin engages the-lower end of an inclined face {t2 on the bar;that is, when the bar is in its uppermostpositiomas shown in Fig. 2.'

Suppose now, that a coinhas been inserted (in the manner to behereinafter described) and rests in' position as shown at- CL Upwardmovement of the outer end 32 of lever 3-1 will cause downward movementof the bar" 35; and as soon as the bar has moved downwardly slightly theinclined surface 42 will leave the pin 41 and the finger 37 will thenpress'against the coin C in the slot 39*. Further downward movement ofthe bar 35 will therefore beguided by thecoin'Csliding downwardly in thechute 39', the coin be still supported upon supporting mem ber 38. Inthis condition, theupper end of the bar 35 moves downwardly while thelower end of the bar moves as guided by the pivotal connection 34. Whenthis movement takes place a pin or other projection 43' which is mountedin the bar will engage the outer end 30" ofthe-pawl 3'0 and will causedownward movement of the pawl to cause the-i'otation-of the shaft 13.hen the pawl 30 reaches its lowermost position its outer end is engagedby the teeth 4:5 in a pivoted member 46. This member 46 is pivoted tothe case or any other suitable support at 47 and it is normally held tothe left in- Fig; 2 by; the engagement of the coiiiiectingpin 34. withan inclined face 48 onthe lower end= of the member 46. Immediately thepin or projection 43 is moved downwardly the member 46 is drawn to theright in Fig. 2' by the small spring-50 and the teeth 45 are moved tosuch position that the end of the pawl 30 will engage the teeth when itreaches its lowermost position. The provision of a plurality of teeth 45provides for holding the pawl 30in any lower position providing forvariations in that position. due to slight variations in the amount ofmovement necessary to deliver; a box 12. The result of this action isthat the pawl is left in its lowermost position until the bar 35 is.moved back up to its normal position, When 7 allowing the pawl 30 to bebrought up to its noian'al position by a strong spring 51. The

teeth 45 are so arranged that when the end of pawl 30 clears any one ofthem it will pass clearly. by any teeth above. The upward movement ofthe pawl is limited by a suitable stop 52. Upward movement of the bar 35is causedby astrong. spring. 53'attacliedi at to the lever 31. Whennocoin is inserted? in the chute and whenthere is no coin resting. at theposition shown at (3, it will be seen that there will be nothing. toguide the bar 35 in a true verticalfmovement; with the-result that iftli'e lever 31 is moved and the bar- 35 is-moved downwardly when no coinhas beeninserted, then the spring 40 will pull the bar 35to the left asit moves downwardly; the inclined face 42: onthe bar followingtlie pin41; and this movement of the bar will-cause the pin or projection e3 tomove to the left of the end 30 of pawl 30 so that the pawl is notengaged by theprojection 43. at. all; and the apparatus thus cannot beworked unless a proper coinis inserted.

The coin'is-inserted through a slot 60' at the upper part of themachine, said: slot being just the size of the. desired. coin so thatanoversize coin, or slug, or substitute cannot be inserted. Upon insertion thecoin rolls down a ledge 61 in the manner shown at C in Figs;2. and hr Immediately the coin has been inserted in the slot 60, itassumes an inolinedposition. against a wall-63 and runs down the ledge61. At some convenient point this wall is broken. and turned back as isillustrated at 64 so as to form apart of the wallI'ofgreater-inclination than the nor mal wall. The upper edge-6'5 of thisspecial part is at a distance abovethe ledge61 just less than thediameter of proper ooin g. so that any coin of less size thanithe proper110 coin will drop into the depressed portion of the wall and willassume'ani inclination as. illustrated attfi'in dotted lines in Fig; 4;and this inclination will be sufficient to slide the coin oif the ledge61 and prevent it from passingv on down through the-chute 39.1 Toprevent any coin or substitute being impelled quickly past the depressedportions 6%, I provide a pin 62 which" will bestruek by the upper edgeof such coin orsubstitute,

causing thethe coin to be knocked off the ledge 61;

When a: proper coin has been inserted itpasses down through the chute3'9 andwill rest uponthe'member 38in the manner hereinbefore describedand the machine can then be: operated as herein set forth. Then themachine is. operated and the bar 35 moves downwardly an inclinedsurf-ace 4E2 willfen-- gage the pin a1 when the bar 35 reaches itslowermost position and the. co-action of the pin 41 with the surface 42*will throw the bar to the right sufficiently to remove the member 38from'under the coin C and allow it to then drop down the chute. However,the coin C does not drop clear down the chutebut only drops to aposition shown at (3* where it rests upon the foot 70 of a member 71pivoted at 72 and normally held in position by a light spring 73. Eachcoin, after it has beenused to operate the machine is dropped down onthis foot and is left in sight through the glass face 7 4 until the nextcoin is inserted and the machine is operated again. Thus, there isalways a coin of the proper denomination showing in the machine; or, ifthe machine has been tried by a substitute, that substitute will show atthe position indicated at C. Upon the next operation of the machine, thecoin at C will be released before the coin at G is dropped. This actionis caused by the mechanism now described. The member 71 carries a smallinclined projection 75 against which a pin 76 moves downwardly upon thefirst downward movement of the bar 35, causing the member 71 to move tothe right in Fig. 2 and causing the foot 70 to move from under the coinat 0 This allows the coin C to drop so as to leave the space on the foot70 free for the next coin. The member 71 also carries another inclinedprojection 77 with which the pin 76 will engageunder certaincircumstances. It will be noted thata coin of excessive size cannot beinserted in the machine and a coin of insufiicient size will be thrownout at 6i. Should the machine be tried with a washer or any othersubstitute member 38 that its center comes approximately opposite theend of finger 37. When the finger 37 passes through the central hole ofsuch a washer, the pin 76 is carried to the left in Fig. 2, so that,upon downward movement, it will engage the inclined projection 77. Andthe engagement of the pin with the inclined face 77 will cause operationof a member 71 to withdraw the foot from beneath the coin at (1*allowing that coin to be discharged. The movement of the bar 35 to theleft will make the pin or projection 13 avoid the end 30 of the pawl 30;and the machine will not beoperated; but when the bar 35 reaches itslowermost position the engagement of pin 41' with inclined face 42 willcause the washer to be dropped to the position C in the same manner thata good coin would be dropped. Thus, the washer will remain in sight at Cand will show that the machine has been tried with a substitute for acoin.

the bar is moved In Fig. 6 I have shown a modified form of coin release.The coin supporting foot 70 projects from a member 71 resilientlymounted on a suitable spring wire 81. A

coin reaching the position C drops against an inclined surface 80 andpresses the member 71 to the rightin Fig. 6, allowing the coin at C todrop, as shown at C. In this formit will be noted that the previous coinis dropped by the direct action of the coin at (1; whereas in the formfirst described the previous coinis dropped by positive mechanicalaction of the mechanism when manually operated.

Having described a preferred form of my invention, I claim:

- 1. In a vending machine, a shaft adapted for rotary movement, a pawlon said shaft projecting substantially horizontally therefrom so thatvertical movement of the outer end of the pawl will rotate the'shaft, avertical slotted coin chute, a vertically movable bar having a finger atits upper end projecting into the slot in the coin chute and adapted topress against a coin therein, and having a coin supporting projectionimmediately below the finger so that the finger will engagesubstantially the center of the coin resting on said support, so thatthe upper end of the bar is guided substantially in a vertical movementby the coin moving in the coin chute, and a member on said bar adaptedto engage the end of the pawl when guided by the coin in said chute.

2. In a vending machine, a shaft adapted for rotary movement, a pawl onsaid shaft projecting substantially horizontally therefrom so thatvertical movement of the outer end of the pawl will rotate the shaft, avertical slotted coin chute, a vertically movable bar having a finger atits upper end projecting into the slot in the coin chute and adapted topress against a coin therein, so that the upper end of the bar is guidedsubstantially in a vertical movement by the coin moving in said coinchute, a member on said bar adapted to engage the end of the pawl whenthe bar is moved guided by a coin in said chute, and means releasable byupward movement of said member to hold the pawl in its lowermostposition to which it is moved by said member.

3. In a vending machine, a shaft adapted for rotary movement, a pawl onsaid shaft projecting substantially horizontally therefrom so thatvertical movement of the outer end of the pawl will rotate the shaft, avertical slotted coin chute, a verticallymovable bar having a finger atits upper end projecting into the slot in the coin chute and adapted topress against the coin therein, and having a coin supporting projectionimmediately below the finger so that the finger will engagesubstantially the center of the coin resting on said support, so thatthe upper end of the bar is guided substantially in a vertical movementby the coin moving in the coin chute, a member on said bar adapted toengage the end of the pawl when the bar is moved guided by the coin insaid chute, and means releasable by upward movement of said member tohold the pawl in its lowermost position to which it is moved by saidmember.

a. Coin controlled apparatus, embodying a vertical slotted chute downwhich a coin may drop, a coin engaging member having a coin supportingfoot normally extending into' the chute and having a coin engagingfinger above the foot normally without the chute, means to causedownward movement of the coin engaging member and means to causemovement of said member toward the chute when first moved downwardly,and means tocause movement of said coin engaging member away from thechute during the last part-of its downward movement so as to withdrawthe supporting foot from under the coin.

5. Coin controlled apparatus, embodying a vertical slotted chute downwhich a coin may drop, a coin engaging member pivoted at one end andhaving at its other end a coinsupporting ioot normally extending intothe chute and having a coin engaging finger above the foot normallywithout the chute, means to move the pivoted end of the coin engagingmember downwardly, and means to cause fi-rsta movement of thecoinliengaging end of the member toward the chute and afterward awayfrom the chute-by virtue of said downward movement.

6. Coin controlled apparatus, embodying a vertical slottedchute downwhich a coin may drop, a coin engaging member pivoted at one end andhaving at its other end a coin supporting foot normally extending intothe chute and havinga coin engaging finger above the foot normallywithout the chute, means to move the pivoted end of the coin engagingmember downwardly, and means to cause first a movement ofthe coinengaging end of the member toward the chute and afterward away from thechute by virtue of said down-ward movement, said means embodying aspring tending to force said end of the member'toward the chute, astationary pin, and two'guide surfaces on said member inclinedoppositely to each other and adapted to be pressed into engagemei'it'with the pin by the spring.

In. witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed myname this 8th day of June, 1915.

MGDOWVELL GRAVES.

Witnesses:

JAMES BARKELEW, ELwoon H. B ARKELEW.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing, the"Go1nmissione1 of Patents;

WashingtomD. 0.

